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mitigate, militate - vocabulary

See the discussion under militate, mitigate.Grammar.com's section on Problem Words discusses militate and mitigate. Click here for that discussion....

added by edgood
7 years ago

moribund - vocabulary

adjectiveAbout to die; on the verge of termination or extinction; on the verge of becoming obsolete. Of the twenty or so civilizations known to modern Western historians, all except our own appear to be dead or moribund, and, when we diagnose each ca...

added by edgood
7 years ago

munificent - vocabulary

adjectiveCharacterized by generous motives, extremely liberal in giving. The noun is munificence. Yesterday was a big moment in the annals of congressional munificence. While the Senate was increasing the government's borrowing limit and growing the ...

added by edgood
7 years ago

myriad - vocabulary

nounA vast indefinite number.adjectiveInnumerable. Note: Throughout most of its history in English myriad was used as a noun, as in a myriad of men. In the 19th century it began to be used in poetry as an adjective, as in myriad men. Both usages in E...

added by edgood
7 years ago

nausea, nauseate, nauseous, nauseating - vocabulary

nausea, noun; nauseate, verb; nauseous, nauseated, and nauseating, adjectives.Note: Purists insist that nauseous means “causing nausea,” as in the nauseous roller-coaster ride, and that nauseated means “feeling nausea,” as in the nauseated st...

added by edgood
7 years ago

nefarious - vocabulary

adjectiveWicked or villainous in the extreme; vile, heinous. One of the most nefarious aspects of the court of Constantinople (known as the Seraglio and the Sublime Porte) was the all-pervading corruption and bribery that had been raised to a system ...

added by edgood
7 years ago

nihilism, nihilist - vocabulary

nounNihilism: the total rejection of laws and institutions; nihilism is marked by terrorism, anarchy, and other revolutionary activity. In philosophy, nihilism is an extreme form of skepticism, the denial of all existence or the possibility of an obj...

added by edgood
7 years ago

noisome, noisy - vocabulary

adjectiveNoisome: very offensive, particularly to the sense of smell, as in noisome fumes.Noisy: loud.Note: The human ear can detect only one of these words, that is, noisy. The other, noisome, is better associated with the nose. Foul words is but fo...

added by edgood
7 years ago

nonpareil - vocabulary

noun, adjectiveA person or thing without equal, peerless; a small pellet of sugar used for decorating cookies or candy; a bite-sized chocolate covered with these pellets. I see you what you are: you are too proud; But, if you were the devil, you are ...

added by edgood
7 years ago

nostrum - vocabulary

nounA medicine sold with exaggerated claims of its efficacy; quack medicine; snake oil; a scheme, theory, or device, especially one to remedy social or political ills. As to Squire Western, he was seldom out of the sickroom, unless when he was engage...

added by edgood
7 years ago

nuance - vocabulary

nounA slight degree of difference in anything perceptible; a very slight variation or difference in color or tone. Throughout these eight or ten volumes he proves himself to be one of those rare writers who see what they write. As in the case of Tenn...

added by edgood
7 years ago

obdurate - vocabulary

adjectiveUnmoved by pity, persuasion, or tender feelings; stubborn, unyielding; resistant to moral influence. She stood with her bright angry eyes confronting the wide stare, and the set face; and softened no more, when the moaning was repeated, than...

added by edgood
7 years ago

obsequious - vocabulary

adjectiveShowing a servile or fawning readiness to fall in with the wishes or will of another; overly deferential. What guest at Dives’s table can pass the familiar house without a sigh?—the familiar house of which the lights used to shine so che...

added by edgood
7 years ago

obstinate - vocabulary

adjectiveStubbornly or firmly adhering to one’s own view, purpose, or opinion; unyielding in attitude; inflexible persistence, as in obstinate advocacy for higher taxes; not easily controlled, as in obstinate growth of weeds. There are also many ot...

added by edgood
7 years ago

obstreperous - vocabulary

adjectiveResisting restraint or control in a difficult manner; unruly; boisterous, noisy, clamorous. A lunatic may be “soothed,”... for a time, but in the end, he is very apt to become obstreperous. His cunning, too, is proverbial, and great.... ...

added by edgood
7 years ago

obtuse - vocabulary

adjectiveNot alert or quick in perception or feeling; dull; not observant; not sharp or pointed, blunt in form. It is because the public are a mass—inert, obtuse, and passive—that they need to be shaken up from time to time so that we can tell fr...

added by edgood
7 years ago

obviate - vocabulary

verbTo anticipate, eliminate, or prevent difficulties by effective measures, as in to obviate the risk of injury. The Internet, on the other hand, not only creates niche communities—of young people, beer aficionados, news junkies, Britney Spears fa...

added by edgood
7 years ago

officious - vocabulary

adjectiveIntermeddling with what is not one's concern; overly aggressive in offering one’s unwanted and unrequested services. The government is huge, stupid, greedy and makes nosy, officious and dangerous intrusions into the smallest corners of lif...

added by edgood
7 years ago

omniscience, omniscient - vocabulary

adjectiveOmniscient: having unlimited or infinite knowledge.nounOmniscience: unlimited or infinite knowledge. Philip felt that he ought to have been thoroughly happy in that answer of hers; she was as open and transparent as a rock-pool. Why was he n...

added by edgood
7 years ago

onerous - vocabulary

adjectiveBurdensome, oppressive, troublesome. We have the means to change the laws we find unjust or onerous. We cannot, as citizens, pick and choose the laws we will or will not obey.—Former President Ronald Reagan Speech to the United Brotherhood...

added by edgood
7 years ago

onus - vocabulary

nounA difficult burden, task, or responsibility. In law, the word onus refers to the burden of proof, as in The onus is on the plaintiff to prove the theory of the case. He proposed to call witnesses to show how the prisoner, a profligate and spendt...

added by edgood
7 years ago

opprobrium - vocabulary

nounThe disgrace or reproach incurred by outrageous or shameful conduct; ignominy. Yahoo has suffered a good deal of opprobrium since it was revealed last month that, when [Chinese] government officials came calling, the company's Hong Kong division ...

added by edgood
7 years ago

oral, verbal - vocabulary

adjectiveOral: uttered by the mouth, as in oral testimony; using or transmitted by speech, as in oral methods of teaching languages; involving the mouth, as in the oral cavity; taken, done, or administered through the mouth, as in an oral dose of med...

added by edgood
7 years ago

ostracize - vocabulary

verbTo exclude, by general agreement, from friendship, society, conversation, or privileges, as in His friends ostracized him after the scandal broke. Even after this skirmish, Democrats are unlikely to completely ostracize Fox [New Channel]. John Ed...

added by edgood
7 years ago

palpable - vocabulary

nounPlainly or readily seen, heard, or understood; evident; obvious; capable of being felt or touched; tangible. Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. A...

added by edgood
7 years ago

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    Quiz

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    Choose the sentence with correct use of the indefinite pronoun:
    A Someone are playing in the park.
    B Few have completed the task.
    C Each of the students is presenting their project.
    D Everybody is welcome to the party.